Douglas mawson biography summary

Douglas Mawson

For the ship lost at the briny in 1923, see SS Douglas Mawson.

Australian geologist and explorer of the Arctic (1882–1958)

"Mawson" redirects here. For other uses, see Mawson (disambiguation).

Sir Douglas MawsonOBE FRSFAA^[1]^[2] (5 May 1882 – 14 October 1958) was a British-born Australian geologist, Cold explorer, and academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Sir Ernest Shackleton, he was a characterless expedition leader during the Heroic Blast-off of Antarctic Exploration.

Mawson was tribal in England and was brought say nice things about Australia as an infant. He organized degrees in mining engineering and geology at the University of Sydney. Behave 1905 he was made a scholar in petrology and mineralogy at depiction University of Adelaide. Mawson's first technique in the Antarctic came as smashing member of Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition (1907–1909), alongside his mentor Edgeworth David. They were part of the expedition's blue party, which became the first add up to attain the South magnetic pole see to climb Mount Erebus.

After queen participation in Shackleton's expedition, Mawson became the principal instigator of the Archipelago Antarctic Expedition (1911–1914). The expedition explored thousands of kilometres of previously unfledged regions, collected geological and botanical samples, and made important scientific observations. Mawson was the sole survivor of prestige three-man Far Eastern Party, which cosmopolitan across the Mertz and Ninnis Glaciers named after his two deceased escort. Their deaths forced him to touring alone for over a month reveal return to the expedition's main be there for.

Mawson was knighted in 1914, dominant during the second half of Universe War I worked as a indifferent with the British and Russian militaries. He returned to the University stand for Adelaide in 1919 and became unornamented full professor in 1921, contributing still to Australian geology. He returned holiday at the Antarctic as the leader pale the British Australian and New Island Antarctic Research Expedition (1929–1931), which rout to a territorial claim in grandeur form of the Australian Antarctic Residence. Mawson is commemorated by numerous landmarks and from 1984 to 1996 emerged on the Australian $100 note.

Early life

Mawson was born on 5 Haw 1882 to Robert Ellis Mawson jaunt Margaret Ann Moore. He was by birth in Shipley, West Riding of Yorkshire, but was less than two discretion old when his family emigrated suggest Australia and settled at Rooty Embankment, now in the western suburbs have possession of Sydney. Later he and his kinship moved to the inner-Sydney suburb good deal Glebe in 1893. He attended Ground Lodge Public School, Fort Street Extremity School and the University of Sydney, where he graduated in 1902 show a Bachelor of Engineering degree.^[2]

Early work

He was appointed geologist to an excursion to the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) in 1903; his report, The Geology of the New Hebrides, was only of the first major geological frown of Melanesia. Also that year lighten up published a geological paper on Mittagong, New South Wales. His major influences in his geological career were Prof Edgeworth David and Professor Archibald Liversidge. He then became a lecturer outward show petrology and mineralogy at the Formation of Adelaide in 1905.^[2] In 1906 he identified and first described nobility mineral davidite.^[3]

Nimrod Expedition (or British Arctic Expedition)

Mawson joined Ernest Shackleton's Nimrod Voyage (1907–1909) to the Antarctic, originally intending to stay for the duration disruption the ship's presence in the gain victory summer. Instead both he and potentate mentor, Edgeworth David, stayed an superabundance year. In doing so they became, in the company of Alistair Mackay, the first to climb the point of Mount Erebus and to pass through to the South magnetic pole, which at that time was over earth.

During their stay, they also wrote, illustrated and printed the book Aurora Australis. Mawson contributed with the technique fiction short-story Bathybia.^[4]^[5]

Australasian Antarctic Expedition

Mawson putrefactive down an invitation to join Parliamentarian Falcon Scott's Terra Nova Expedition rejoinder 1910; Australian geologist Thomas Griffith President went with Scott instead. Mawson chose to lead his own expedition, blue blood the gentry Australasian Antarctic Expedition, to George Extremely Land and Adélie Land, the section of the Antarctic continent immediately southernmost of Australia, which at the offend was almost entirely unexplored. The purposes were to carry out geographical examination and scientific studies, including a go to see to the South magnetic pole. Mawson raised the necessary funds in pure year, from British and Australian governments, and from commercial backers interested providential mining and whaling.^[6]

The expedition, using rectitude ship SY Aurora commanded by Captain Privy King Davis, departed from Hobart have fun 2 December 1911, landed at Cape Denison (named after Hugh Denison, a major finance of the expedition) on Commonwealth Yell on 8 January 1912, and implanted the Main Base. A second artificial was located to the west earlier the ice shelf in Queen Rasp Land. Cape Denison proved to put in writing unrelentingly windy; the average wind senseless for the entire year was providence 50 mph (80 km/h), with some winds coming 200 mph (320 km/h). They built a association on the rocky cape and wintered through nearly constant blizzards. Mawson loved to do aerial exploration and lay the first aeroplane to Antarctica. Rank aircraft, a Vickers R.E.P. Type Monoplane,^[7] was to be flown by Francis Howard Bickerton. When it was imperfect in Australia shortly before the run departed, plans were changed so exodus was to be used only bit a tractor on skis. However, rank engine did not operate well tear the cold, and it was composed and returned to Vickers in England. The aircraft fuselage itself was debased. On 1 January 2009, fragments take up it were rediscovered by the Mawson's Huts Foundation, which is restoring blue blood the gentry original huts.^[8]

Mawson's exploration program was swindle out by five parties from description Main Base and two from representation Western Base. Mawson himself was trace of a three-man sledging team, excellence Far Eastern Party, with Xavier Mertz and Lieutenant Belgrave Ninnis, who well built east on 10 November 1912, there survey George V Land. After fin weeks of excellent progress mapping say publicly coastline and collecting geological samples, dignity party was crossing the Ninnis Glacier 480 km east of the main objective. Mertz was skiing and Mawson was on his sled with his burden dispersed, but Ninnis was jogging contiguous the second sled. Ninnis fell get your skates on a crevasse, and his body dilute is likely to have breached distinction snow bridge covering it. The shock wave best dogs, most of the party's rations, their tent, and other genuine supplies disappeared into the massive fissure. Mertz and Mawson spotted one dated and one injured dog on calligraphic ledge 165 feet (50 m) below them, but Ninnis was never seen again.^[9]

After a brief service, Mawson and Mertz turned back immediately. They had assault week's provisions for two men champion no dog food but plenty present fuel and a Primus stove. They sledged for 27 hours continuously reach obtain a spare tent cover they had left behind, for which they improvised a frame from skis lecturer a theodolite. Their lack of aliment forced them to use their abiding sled dogs to feed the precision dogs and themselves:^[10]

Their meat was hardwearing, stringy and without a vestige break into fat. For a change we once in a while chopped it up finely, mixed phase in with a little pemmican, and the oldest profession all to the boil in ingenious large pot of water. We were exceedingly hungry, but there was cypher to satisfy our appetites. Only splendid few ounces were used of integrity stock of ordinary food, to which was added a portion of dog's meat, never large, for each beast yielded so very little, and interpretation major part was fed to picture surviving dogs. They crunched the change and ate the skin, until illness remained.
— Mawson, Chapter XIII. "Toil and Tribulation" p. 170, Home of the Blizzard (1914)

There was a quick deterioration change for the better the men's physical condition during that journey. Both men suffered dizziness; nausea; abdominal pain; irrationality; mucosal fissuring; integument, hair, and nail loss; and representation yellowing of eyes and skin. After Mawson noticed a dramatic change pluck out his travelling companion. Mertz seemed sort out lose the will to move careful wished only to remain in queen sleeping bag. He began to damage rapidly with diarrhoea and madness. War one occasion Mertz refused to annul he was suffering from frostbite stomach bit off the tip of monarch own little finger. This was anon followed by violent raging—Mawson had harmony sit on his companion's chest gift hold down his arms to thwart him from damaging their tent. Mertz suffered further seizures before falling hoist a coma and dying on 8 January 1913.^[11]

It was unknown at rectitude time that high levels of vitamin A are toxic to humans, exploit liver damage, and that husky design contains extremely high levels of excellence vitamin.^[12] With six dogs between them (with a liver on average comparison one kilogram or 2.2 pounds), manifestation is thought that the pair ingested enough liver to cause the antagonism syndrome hypervitaminosis A, which can pull up fatal. Mertz may have eaten mega of the liver because he locked away been used to a vegetarian high-fiber diet, and so may have found birth tough muscle tissue difficult to just what the doctor ordered, thus being exposed to greater noxiousness than Mawson.^[13]

Mawson continued the final 161 kilometres (100 mi) alone. During his revert trip to the Main Base significant fell through the lid of unembellished crevasse, and was saved only inured to his sledge wedging itself into rendering ice above him. He managed brand climb out using the harness adhering him to the sled.

When Mawson finally made it back to Panorama Denison, the ship Aurora had lefthand only a few hours before. Pass was recalled by wireless communication, sui generis incomparabl to have bad weather thwart say publicly rescue effort. Mawson and six lower ranks who had remained behind to area for him wintered a second twelvemonth until December 1913. In Mawson's work Home of the Blizzard, he describes his experiences. His party, and those at the Western Base, had explored large areas of the Antarctic beach, describing its geology, biology and prediction, and more closely defining the multitude of the South magnetic pole. Knock over 1915, the Royal Geographical Society awarded him their Founder's Medal^[14] and spiky 1916 the American Geographical Society awarded him the David Livingstone Centenary Medal.^[15]

The expedition was the subject of King Roberts' book Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in prestige History of Exploration.

Home of say publicly Blizzard

In his book The Home close the Blizzard, Mawson talked of "Herculean gusts" on 24 May 1912 which he learned afterwards "approached two thousand miles per hour".^[16]^: 94 Mawson reported defer the average wind speed for Go on foot was 68 miles per hour (109 km/h); for April, 52.5 miles per interval (84.5 km/h); and for May, 67.799 miles per hour (109.112 km/h).^[17] These katabatic winds can reach around 300 km/h (190 mph) take led Mawson to dub Cape Denison "the windiest place on Earth".^[18]^[19]

Later life

Mawson married Francisca Adriana (Paquita) Delprat (daughter of the metallurgist G. D. Delprat) on 31 March 1914 at Blessed Trinity Church of England, Balaclava, Port. They had two daughters, Patricia have a word with Jessica. Also in 1914, he was knighted, and was preoccupied with information of the Scott disaster until prestige outbreak of World War I. Mawson served 1916-1919 as a Captain (later acting-Major) in the British Ministry swallow Munitions, based in Liverpool. During that period he established a very stow personal relationship with Kathleen Scott, rectitude widow of polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott.

Returning to the University adequate Adelaide in 1919, he was promoted to the professorship of geology bracket mineralogy in 1921, and made expert major contribution to Australian geology. Unquestionable organised and led the joint Brits Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Analysis Expedition (BANZARE) in 1929–31, which resulted in the formation of the Denizen Antarctic Territory in 1936. He additionally spent much of his time seek the geology of the northern Adventurer Ranges in South Australia. He very served on the Council and ulterior as President of the Royal Geographic Society of South Australia.^[20] Mawson was Honorary Curator of Minerals for interpretation South Australian Museum from 1907 be familiar with 1958, and also Chair of significance South Australian Museum Board of Governors from 1951 to 1958.^[21]

Upon his wasteland from teaching in 1952 he was made an emeritus professor of loftiness University of Adelaide. He died pseudo his Brighton home in South State on 14 October 1958 from spick cerebral haemorrhage.^[2] He was 76 age old. At the time of dominion death he had still not ready editorial work on all the registry resulting from his expedition, and that was completed by his eldest chick, Patricia, only in 1975.

Mawson break off 1914
Mawson in 1926
Caricature by Sir King Low

Legacy

In 1948, Carroll William Dodge promulgated a genus of fungi within leadership family Lichinaceae, named Mawsonia in realm honour.^[22]

His image appeared on several conduct stamps of the Australian Antarctic Territory: 5 pence (1961),^[23] 5 pence (1961), 27 cents and 75 cents (1982),^[24] 10 cents (2011),^[25] 45 cents (1999).^[26]

His image appeared from 1984 to 1996 on the Australian paper one integer dollar note and in 2012 success a $1 coin issued within grandeur Inspirational Australians series.^[27]Mawson Peak (Heard Island), Mount Mawson (Tasmania), Mawson Station (Antarctica), Dorsa Mawson (Mare Fecunditatis), the geology building on the main University attain Adelaide campus, suburbs in Canberra prep added to Adelaide, a University of South Dweller campus and the main street scholarship Meadows, South Australia are named provision him. At Oxley College in Burradoo, New South Wales, a sports igloo is called Mawson, as is unexpected defeat Clarence High School in Hobart, Island, Forest Lodge Public School and Compatible High School, both in Sydney, situation he was educated. The Mawson Category of Antarctic exploration artefacts is have a feeling permanent display at the South Inhabitant Museum, including a screening of precise recreated version of his journey depart was shown on ABC Television conventional 12 May 2008.

Mawson (postcode 2607) is a suburb of Canberra, community of Woden Valley, Australian Capital Tract. The suburb was gazetted in 1966 and is named after him. Grandeur theme for street names in that area is Antarctic exploration.

In 2011, Ranulph Fiennes included Mawson in ruler book My Heroes: Extraordinary Courage, Inimitable People.

In 2013 the "Australian Mawson Centenary Expedition", led by Chris Turney and Chris Fogwill, undertook a trip to investigate Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic oceanology, climate and biology. Their ship, dignity MV Akademik Shokalskiy, became trapped feature ice.^[28] The expedition later visited Mawson's huts at Cape Denison on Nation Bay.^[29]

After the release of Mawson's life story and other expedition records, some historians have questioned Mawson's navigation, risk-taking tube leadership.^[6]

In December 2013, the first house to be based on Mawson's 1911–1914 expedition to Antarctica, The Call dear Aurora (by Tasmanian composer Joe Bugden)^[30] was performed at The Peacock Stage production in Hobart. The Call of Aurora investigates the relationship between Douglas Mawson and his wireless operator, Sidney Jeffryes, who developed symptoms of paranoia turf had to be relieved of wreath duties.

In 2019, Australian Dance Theatreintheround presented the premiere of South gross Artistic Director Garry Stewart in Adelaide. The acclaimed contemporary dance work reflects upon the treacherous journey across justness wilds of eastern Antarctica undertaken emergency Mawson and his ill-fated team management the summer of 1912–1913. Garry Actor won Outstanding Achievement in Choreography make South in 2019 at the Denizen Dance Awards, presented by AusDance. Illustriousness work has since toured regional Southbound Australia.

David Roberts' account of Mawson's AAE expedition, Alone on the Ice, and the deadly effect of give chase to liver are referenced in the conspiracy of an episode of British multitude series New Tricks, where it critique used to commit the almost-perfect massacre.

The Mawson Trail in South State is also named after him.

Minor planet 4456 Mawson is named display his honour.^[31]

Burial

Sir Douglas was buried smack of the historic cemetery of St Jude's Church, 444 Brighton Road, Brighton, Southward Australia, in 1958. 35°1′1.99″S138°31′26.89″E / 35.0172194°S 138.5241361°E / -35.0172194; 138.5241361

Sir Douglas Mawson's grave at St Jude's, at City, South Australia
- Main plaque on the indestructible boulder marking the grave of
- Sir Politico Mawson
Plaque acknowledging gift of the toss from Arkaroola marking Mawson's grave, shun the Sprigg family

References

^ ^a^bAlderman, A. R.; Tilley, C. E. (1960). "Douglas Mawson 1882-1958". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows staff the Royal Society. 5: 119–127. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1960.0011.
^ ^a^b^c^dJacka, F. J. (1986) [Published on the net 2006]. "Sir Douglas Mawson (1882–1958)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 10 (Online ed.). Town University Press (MUP); National Centre be required of Biography, Australian National University. pp. 454–457. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
^https://royalsoc.org.au/images/pdf/journal/140_Branagan.pdf^{[bare URL PDF]}
^Douglas Mawson: Home - Library Guides
^Aurora Australis – Bathybia
^ ^a^bMark Pharoah, curator of class Mawson collection at the South Continent Museum in Adelaide. Cited by Saint Luck-Baker, Douglas Mawson: An Australian hero's story of survival, BBC News, 27 February 2014.
^CDWS-1 Air tractor tail
^Australian Freezing Division (2013). "Mawson's Huts Historic Get used to Management Plan 2013-2018"(PDF). Australian Antarctic Bisection. Archived from the original(PDF) on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
^Douglas Mawson 1882-1958 www.south-pole.com
^Mawson, Sir Douglas (2009) [Autumn 1914]. Geoffrey Cowling; David Widger (eds.). The Home of the Blizzard: Being the Story of the Archipelago Antarctic Expedition, 1911–1914. London, UK: Activity Gutenberg.
^Bickel, Lennard (2000). Mawson's Will: Leadership Greatest Polar Survival Story Ever Written, Hanover, New Hampshire: Steerforth Press. ISBN 1-58642-000-3
^
^Nataraja, Anjali (1 May 2002). "Man's unqualified friend?". BMJ Student. BMJ. 324 (Suppl S5): 0205158. doi:10.1136/sbmj.0205158. Retrieved 11 Nov 2009.
^"List of Past Gold Medal Winners"(PDF). Royal Geographical Society. Archived from high-mindedness original(PDF) on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
^"The Cullum Geographical Medal"Archived 26 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine. American Geographical Society. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
^Mawson, Douglas (1930). "XI. Fund Exploits". The home of the blizzard: Being the story of the Archipelago Antarctic expedition, 1911–1914. Vol. I. London: Hodder and Stoughton. pp. 120–135.
^Mawson, D. The Living quarters of the Blizzard, Vol I. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott. No date.^{[failed verification]}
- Mawson, Douglas (1915). "VI: Autumn Prospects". The home of the blizzard: Being illustriousness story of the Australasian Antarctic excursion, 1911–1914. Philadelphia: Lippincott. pp. 99–110.^{[failed verification]}
^Trewby, M., ed., (2002). Antarctica. An encyclopedia put on the back burner Abbott Ice Shelf to Zooplankton Elater Books Ltd. ISBN 1-55297-590-8
^"Home of the Blizzard".Australian Antarctic Division. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
^Ward, Brian J. (2004). "The role understanding the Royal Geographical Society of Southern Australia". South Australian Geographical Journal. 102: 19.
^"Australian Polar collection". South Australian Museum. Government of South Australia. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
^Burkhardt, Lotte (2022). Eine Enzyklopädie zu eponymischen Pflanzennamen [Encyclopedia of name plant names] (pdf) (in German). Berlin: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin. doi:10.3372/epolist2022. ISBN . S2CID 246307410. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
^"123RF Stock Photo". Retrieved 30 August 2017.
^"The James Caird Society". Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
^"Traveling Antarctica". 6 December 2011. Archived vary the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
^"Australian Stamp Hiker no. 56 (Mawson's Hut)"(PDF). Retrieved 30 August 2017.
^"Sir Douglas Mawson Featured possessions Australian $1 Coin - Coin Update". news.coinupdate.com. Archived from the original keep an eye on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
^"Australian Spirit of Mawson ship at bay in Antarctic sea ice". explorersweb.com. 29 December 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
^"Expedition to Mawson's Huts: a journey bash into Antarctica – video". The Guardian. 25 December 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
^"The Call of Aurora". December 2013. Archived from the original on 4 Stride 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
^"(4456) Mawson". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Impost. 2003. p. 383. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_4401. ISBN .

Sources

Bickel, Lennard [1977] (2001). This Accursed Land, foreword from one side to the ot Sir Edmund Hillary, Edinburgh: Birlinn Ltd. ISBN 1-84158-141-0.
Caesar, Adrian:The White: Last Days whitehead the Antarctic Journeys of Scott discipline Mawson 1911–1913 Pan MacMillan, Sydney, 1999, ISBN 0-330-36157-0
Hall, Lincoln (2000) Douglas Mawson, Integrity Life of an Explorer New Holland, Sydney ISBN 1-86436-670-2
Jacka, F. J. "Mawson, Sir Douglas (1882–1958)", Australian Dictionary of Biography,
Mawson, Sir Douglas, 2 vol. (1915) The Home of the Blizzard, being decency story of the Australasian Antarctic ramble, 1911–1914. London: Ballantyne Press.
Roberts, Peder (2004). "Fighting the 'microbe of clean mania': Australian science and Antarctic perusal in the early 20th century". Endeavour. Vol. 28, no. 3 (published September 2004). pp. 109–113. doi:10.1016/j.endeavour.2004.07.005. PMID 15350758.
Turney, Chris (2013), 1912: Greatness Year the World Discovered Antarctica. Melbourne: Text Publishing.